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The team from Charity Navigator, the nation's largest independent charity evaluator and leading donor advocate, shares their thoughts on emerging nonprofit-sector issues and offers tips to better inform your intelligent giving decisions.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Most Charity-Conscious Cities in America

Market Size: New York City (590 large charities), D.C. (500) and L.A. (198) are more crowded and competitive philanthropic markets than Nashville (30), Cincinnati (31), Nashville (31) and Orlando (34).

CEO Compensation: Charity executives in New York City ($190,472) and San Diego ($165,000) earn considerably more than those in Orlando ($107,569) and Portland ($110,601).

Fundraising Efficiency: Spending a median of just 65 cents to raise a dollar in contributions, Orlando’s charities are the most efficient in their fundraising endeavors. Seattle’s charities are the least as they spend nearly double that amount to raise a dollar.

Annual Growth: Charities in San Francisco are among the fastest growing, while charities in Baltimore are among the slowest.

Wealth: Cleveland’s and Cincinnati’s largest charities are generally richer in assets and working capital than charities in other parts of the country, while charities in Colorado Springs are less financially secure.

Donor Privacy Policy: Cincinnati (68%) and Milwaukee (65%) have higher percentages of charities with written donor privacy plans (stating that the charity will not sell, trade or share its donors’ personal information with anyone else, nor send mailings on behalf of other organizations); Pittsburgh (30%) and Philadelphia (40%) have the lowest percentage of charities with such policies.

Types of Charities: Miami, with 40% of its largest charities classified as Human Services, and Colorado Springs, with 39% of its largest charities classified as Religious, appear to be less diverse in terms of the types of charities represented. Portland and Los Angeles are more diverse marketplaces as they contain at least 3%, but no more than 19%, of each type of charity.